Downloading or Transferring Files

Many files are available for download in various formats from our website. We also have a secure site for transferring large files via FTP.

FTPS Site:

We maintain a File Transfer Protocol (Secure) site for transfer of files that are too large to be e-mailed to and from the TCEQ (files larger than 25 MB). Files are available for sharing on our FTPS site for up to 7 days.

Public Website

Generally you will find Portable Document Format (PDF) files, Microsoft files such as Word and Excel, ASCII files, compressed files (also referred to as zipped files), and zipped self-extracting files posted on our site. Some documents and forms must be used exactly as originally distributed.

Note: If the file is compressed, you must decompress it before using it. See details below.

We generally place icons at the end of links to note the kind of file you will be viewing. For example, notes a PDF file.

Downloading

Windows

Using Internet Explorer or Firefox, the basic procedure for downloading a file to your hard drive is as follows:

Locate the link for the file you want to download.

Move the cursor so that it is over the link.

Right-click the mouse button once and release.

In the menu that pops up, select Save Link As... or Save Target As..., depending on which browser you are using.

In the box that pops up, select the directory where you want to save the file.

Mac

Locate the link for the file you want to download.

Move the cursor so that it is over the link.

Click the mouse button and hold.

In the mini-menu that pops up, select "Save this Link as..."

In the box that pops up, select the location where you want to save the file.

Saving Files That Open Automatically

Because of the way software may be configured on your computer, the file may automatically open when you click on its link. You should be able to save it after it has opened by selecting "Save As" or "Save" underneath the "File" menu or an equivalent menu in the software that opened the file.

Microsoft Files, Such as Word and Excel

We use Microsoft Office as our working platform. The agency website contains files both in Microsoft 2010 (.docx) and 2007 (.doc) formats.

You will find Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint files throughout our website.

ASCII Files (Plain Text or Data)

ASCII files are typically plain text files that can be created by most software programs. If not plain text, they may be database files in an ASCII delimited format. Plain text files should be usable in just about any application. The ASCII delimited files usually contain information from a database where each field and record is separated by a marker character. Because the information contained in the file varies, these delimiters should be presented in the file description.

Compressed (Zip) Files

To conserve disk space and reduce downloading time, some of the larger files on our website are posted in a compressed format and must be decompressed before use. Many different compression formats are used on the Internet, including variations for the Windows, Mac, and UNIX operating systems.

We employ the widely-used Windows format known as ZIP. Zipped files can be recognized by their filename extensions of .zip or .exe.

Format

Description

Example Filename

Note

ZIP

Compressed using 7ZIP

report_14.zip

Must be decompressed using 7ZIP. In Mac OS X, just double-click on the file. Use the Unzip utility in *nix.

EXE

Compressed using 7ZIP, then converted to a self-extracting archive. This means that the unzipping utility is not needed to decompress the file. To decompress the file, simply Run it (right-click and Run in Windows 7).